Episode 5871 (19 February 2019)
Synopsis Lofty Holloway and Mary Smith return to the Square after thirty-one years to attend the funeral of Harold Legg, however, they don't go to the actual funeral, just the wake in The Vic. Dr Legg's medallion his father gave him on his wedding day has been lost meaning Dot has not slept from worrying and is unable to go to the funeral so Sonia reads Dot's speech, she also isn't happy that few locals seem interested in paying their last respects. Lofty reveals that he now owns fifteen pubs, all well away from Walford. Mariam and Arshad's granddaughters, Iqra and Habiba, arrive and tell Masood they will look after the restaurant and his house while he is in Australia; they send home his agency staff even though they cannot cook or run a restaurant and Masood allows it because he knows Ian and Max will not like it; Masood and Kathy share one last kiss before he leaves; Iqra and Habiba then find Dr Legg's medallion and decide to keep it for good luck. Also, Sharon tries to convince Phil to get in touch with Keanu, but he refuses. Dot gives Lofty a few old photos that she had of him with Dr Legg. Lofty asks after Michelle and is slightly disappointed that she didn't make it back for the funeral too. Mary has her daughter Annie with her and re-introduces her to Dot. Annie is now in the police force, hoping to make her way up to Chief Inspector before she's forty. As Lofty is leaving the Vic and saying his goodbyes, he gives an unsealed envelope to Martin, asking him to pass it on to Vicki next time he sees her, saying it's just something for old times' sake. Once he's out of sight, Martin and Sharon look in the envelope and find a cheque from Lofty to Vicki for £20,000. Cast Regular cast *Dot Branning - June Brown *Sonia Fowler - Natalie Cassidy *Bex Fowler - Jasmine Armfield *Rainie Branning - Tanya Franks *Stuart Highway - Ricky Champ *Martin Fowler - James Bye *Kush Kazemi - Davood Ghadami *Phil Mitchell - Steve McFadden *Sharon Mitchell - Letitia Dean *Karen Taylor - Lorraine Stanley *Kathy Beale - Gillian Taylforth *Masood Ahmed - Nitin Ganatra *Iqra Ahmed - Priya Davdra *Habiba Ahmed - Rukku Nahar *Denise Fox - Diane Parish *Patrick Trueman - Rudolph Walker *Mick Carter - Danny Dyer *Linda Carter - Kellie Bright *Callum 'Halfway' Highway - Tony Clay *Whitney Dean - Shona McGarty *Mo Harris - Laila Morse *Jean Slater - Gillian Wright *Lofty Holloway - Tom Watt *Mary 'The Punk' Smith - Linda Davidson *Annie - Marilyn O'Brien Guest cast *Rabbi Mordecai Feldman - Simon Schatzberger *Steph - Sally Hodgkiss Filming locations *Albert Square *The Queen Victoria - Public *25 Albert Square - Kitchen and hallway *41 Albert Square - Living/dining room *Bridge Street *Bridge Street Market *Turpin Road *Walford East - Restaurant *Walford East Tube Station *55 Victoria Road - Living/dining room and kitchen *Unknown church Notes *First appearance of Lofty Holloway since 19th April 1988 and Mary and Annie Smith since 26th May 1988. *First appearance of Priya Davdra and Rukku Nahar as Iqra and Habiba Ahmed. *Final appearance of Nitin Ganatra as Masood Ahmed. *Dani Biernat was credited as the stunt co-ordinator and Donna Williams as the stunt performer in this episode. *This was the last episode to credit John Yorke as the executive consultant. *This episode marks the 69th episode to feature Julia's Theme at the end of the episode rather than the regular drum beats. *''Radio Times'' synopsis: The day of Dr Legg's funeral arrives and Dot is disappointed that few locals seem interested in paying their last respects - especially as she is not well enough to attend herself. But she gets a pleasant surprise later when two old faces appear at the wake in the Vic. Masood's nieces Iqra and Habiba arrive in Walford, while Sharon tries to get information about Keanu from Phil. *Viewing Figures: First UK broadcast: 6,424,424 viewers (12th place). Important dialogue Sonia Fowler (reading out Dot's speech): "There are people we all know who Dr Legg brought into the world. Pete, Pauline, Kathy, Den and Angie, and my son, Nick. There's some here he kept in the world, and there's some, some who aren't here, whose hands are held when they said goodbye to it, too. He spent his whole life looking after others, and it didn't matter who they were - what race, what faith, what creed. To Dr Legg, everyone was part of the same family. Once you'd lived on his home square, that was always your home as well, and it'd always be waiting for you whenever you came back to it. When he was young, Dr Legg fought against hate, against those who hated others just because they were different, because, to him, people weren't different; they were just special. He fought against hate at the end of his life as well, and he won that battle, too." Category:2019 Episodes Category:Episodes featuring Julia's Theme